Misfortune
by Daeva Shadow
Summary: When Jor-EL takes away Clark’s powers unknowingly, he’s left vulnerable to an accident that might end his life painstakingly. But what happens when everyone finds out that the misfortune was all planned by someone they once trusted?
1. The Caves

A/N: hi guys, back with another story thatI hope you like. This is co-written with one of my good friends Stranger Then Strange and yeah, this one should be fun. Oh, and for all you TC lovers that don't know about this fic, it's got gobs of TC!

Disclaimer: don't own Smallville. Okay? does everyone get it now?? good.

--------------------------------------------

Trying to ignore the sharp hum, he opened his eyes and tried to keep the truck on the road the best he could. It wasn't helping much though. He closed his eyes tightly again not noticing the car swerve violently on the road as he opened his eyes once more, but all he saw were bright lights so closing them again was all he could do. He only opened his eyes once more when he heard a low honking.

Clark's eyes went wide as he saw a large, white semi truck heading right towards him, and his limbs went numb in fear. Knowing that he had to do something, he closed his eyes tightly, the drone in his head no longer a bother to him since he was more terrified of what was going on while he pushed his foot on the brake. It wasn't working. "Oh god." He whispered, repeating to push the pedal but having no luck with the red car stopping. Before anything else could happen though, the hefty truck impacted to the front of his car and everything around him went black.

Clark woke up a few seconds after the collision, his head was pounding fiercely and…wait he couldn't move anything…why? That's when the pain hit him. It was all over his body. He attempted to take a deep breath but started coughing as soon as he tried. He looked around; the inside of the truck was a wreck. Horrified, he looked out the other side just in time to see another car coming right at him. 'No' was his last thought as everything went black once again.

Misfortune

Change Isn't Always For The Best......

The Previous Morning.........

Misty air roamed around Smallville as late night time and early dawn evening filled the atmosphere, darkness wandering around the sky and stars brightening up the small urban as far down in the town and inside the abandoned caves stood a tired and exhausted farm boy wearing nothing but a pair of baggy flannel pajamas and a blue top. Besides his eyes half closed and his bare feet dragging across the dirt, his left hand was balled up in a tight fist holding something tightly, obviously showing the reason to why he was down in this place.

It was around three in the morning and the last thing he honestly wanted to do was come down to the area he was now just because of something that was unconsciously bothering him. Sleep had came to him easy last night until a sudden voice had woke him up, like someone was actually talking in his head and before he knew it he was where he was now, walking down the caves holding the key to his blown up ship in his hands.

Slowly he started to walk toward the wall when he stopped. "Why am I doing this?" He thought, stepping back. Suddenly a strong force pulled his hand toward the key hole. Trying to resist, Clark pulled back but with no avail the force was stronger than he was and pulled the key right from his hands and into the wall. A gentle wind rose up around him and he was blinded by the light that surrounded his body.

Closing his eyes from the bright illumination, Clark could feel himself weakening against his will, his knees buckling and abruptly feeling himself falling to the ground and grunting while a loud voice boomed in his ears. "Ka-EL, your time is up." He knew who the person was. He knew that the person was what brought him to the caves. What he didn't know though was what was going on and what was going to happen next as he looked up and squinted his eyes at the radiance of different colors around him.

The lights surrounded him like a blanket. A blanket that was suffocating and sucking the life out of him, or so it seemed. Clark looked down to see the floor of the caves getting closer and closer until he hit the ground unconscious.

The next morning Clark woke up with a pounding headache and it took him a minute to figure out where he was and why he was there. Then he remembered, something urging him down into the caves, the key going into the wall, Jor-El saying his time was up, bright lights, getting weaker, and then finally unconsciousness. He looked around he was still in the caves, but something felt different but he couldn't place his finger on it. Suddenly he heard voices coming closer and closer.

"Clark! Clark, are you down here son?" Groaning unknowingly, Clark placed his hand down on the floor when he felt something cut into his palm. Bringing it up, he noticed that the key was now in his hand. Darting his eyebrows down, he looked at the metal confused and puzzled when suddenly, he flinched at the sound of the voice calling him again, causing him to jump up and nearly fall back down at the dizziness overwhelming his body.

Recovering quickly, Clark replied, "Yeah dad, right here." Cursing inwardly at the look on his dad's face he looked away. Jonathan grabbed him and swung him around to face him. Dizziness once again overwhelmed him as his dad did this. "Where were you last night Clark? When your mother and I got up this morning you weren't there and your mother went into a panic."

Clark could see the anger in his father's face but the nausea in his body overtook the guilt. He gulped back the bile that tried to jump up his throat and shrugged a little when he noticed something. He was shaking. Why was he shaking? Trying to open his mouth to respond to his father's question, he looked to the side and unnoticeably stuffed the key in his pants, ignoring the fact that they nearly fell straight to the floor if they didn't slip into his boxer straps and simply focused on trying not to throw up right there. Jonathan saw this and now got a little bit concerned.

Jonathan grabbed Clark looking into his eyes, "Are you alright son?" Clark nodded pulling away from his father "Yeah I'm fine. just kind of tired." He put on a fake smile, "How about this, I'll race you home to prove I'm alright, okay?"

Jonathan patted his shoulders amused at what his son was saying "Alright, a race it is." Jonathan started to walk away as Clark was getting ready to super speed out of the cave, when he stopped, something was wrong.

Turning around, Jonathan shot his eyebrows down and tilted his head to the side, watching his son stare at his hands confused and worried, as he stood still almost scared. "Everything okay Clark?" He asked him, seeing him quickly spin around and lick his dry lips so he could nod his head and shrug a little.

Jonathan nodded and walked out of the caves leaving Clark there to wallow in his thoughts. He tried to engage his super speed again but it didn't work. 'What the hell is going on?' He thought. Jogging out of the caves to see if he could catch his dad before he left, another wave of dizziness overcame him and he dropped to his knees. 'Whoa, that was really weird' Dusting himself off he looked around to find his dad just start pulling away.

Inhaling loudly, Clark sucked in his lips and closed his eyes gently, knowing that either way he was going to have to run home even if he didn't have the one power that would help since if he didn't prove he was okay to his dad all hell would break lose. So he ran as fast as he could, his legs in pain as he did so while during most of the time he jogged down the highway he had to stop and fall to his knees when he felt vomit force up from his stomach. Only one question wandered his mind while he tried to beat his dad home.

What was going on with him?

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

There ya go! now, REVIEW!!please?


	2. Problems with JorEl

A/N: Thanks guys for the awesome reviews! They make me feel so happy! anyway, here's the next installment in this story, enjoy!

---------------------------

The sun shinned brightly down at the Kent farm as Jonathan walked through the kitchen door of the yellow house, sighing when he saw his wife sitting at the kitchen table with a worried and tired look on her face as she jumped up from her seat and looked at him restlessly when her son didn't come in with him. "Did you find him?" Martha asked, seeing him simple move his head up and down and stuff his hands in his pockets.

He nodded, "Yeah he was down in the caves, he looked a little out of it. He said he was fine when I asked him, and he said he'd prove it by racing me home. He should be home by now, have you seen him?"

Martha shook her head, "No I haven't seen him yet. You'd think he'd be ho....." she didn't finish her sentence as Clark walked up to the door, dust all over him. He look terrible. Martha put her hands on her hips as he walked in and smiled sheepishly at her,

"Clark Kent where have you been? You had us worried sick." Clark looked down at the floor and mumbled, "sorry"

It wasn't cutting it though. His parents were still a little upset at him, and he could merely see it in their faces. Gulping loudly, he ran his hands through his dirty hair and smiled the best he could, clutching his teeth together as he sighed some.

"I uh…I decided to walk instead, I'm really sorry." Clark told them both, walking past them and grabbing a glass from the cupboard so he could fill it up with water and take a nice, large guzzle of it in hope that it would help his headache and nausea. As he did, both Martha and Jonathan exchanged glances before the father strolled up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder while he continued to drink the liquid quickly.

"That doesn't explain why you were in the caves in the first place Clark." Freezing immediately, the teen lowered his head to the ground and placed the beaker on the cabinet while he turned away once again to avoid any eye contact with the man.

"I need to get ready for school." He mumbled and started walking away when his father grabbed him, "Clark we're not through here, I want to know why you were down in the caves!" Clark yanked his arm away from him,

"What does it matter why I was down in the caves? It's none of your business anyway!" Clark ran upstairs and slammed the bathroom door. Jonathan sighed looking over at Martha sadly. "I know something happened down there Martha, why won't he tell us?"

All Martha could do was stare at him wretchedly and shrug as she sat down in the chair that was already pulled out from the table and blew air through his cheeks while Jonathan leaned against the cabinet and ran his hands down his face. Something had happened, he knew it. He could tell when something was wrong with his son. The bad part was he didn't know what it was, and the boy wasn't going to tell him. Sighing, he walked away from his wife and back outside, prepared to do his chores while he wondered what was wrong with Clark.

Clark walked down the halls of Smallville High in a daze as he thought about what happened last night, not even listening to what Chloe was saying. "Hello....Clark......earth to Clark!" Clark looked down at her,

"Sorry Chloe, what were you saying?"

"I was saying.......maybe we could meet over at the Talon and study for that math test." Clark shrugged, "Okay, what time?"

"I was thinking maybe around five? but if you need to do your chores first, we can go with a different time."

Clark shook his head, "Five sounds good."

The shrill sound of the bell filled their ears as they ended the conversation. Chloe smiled, "Alright Clark see you."

Watching her walk down the halls, Clark exhaled loudly and pulled his backpack up on his shoulder, turning around and blowing air through his cheeks as he walked into his classroom where everyone was sitting down, including his best friend who waved for him to sit down next to him.

As soon as he took a seat though, his head fell down to the desk and his mouth uncontrollably let out a loud yelp. The teacher didn't notice but everyone else did, especially Pete who looked at him confused when he rubbed his head sorely and observed his friend scribble down words down on a piece of blank notebook paper and crumble it up into a ball, throw it at him, and allow him to open it up and read what he had wrote.

_Dude, you look like an elephant just stomped all over you!_

Slowly turning his head over to him, Clark gave him a glare that looked almost deadly, hearing him try to hold back his chuckle and even cover his mouth to do so as he wrote something else down on another piece of paper and throw it at him again, paying no attention to the looks he got.

_No offense and all though_

Sighing, the farm boy grabbed his pencil and wrote a few words on the paper that was already crushed up, folding it up neatly this time and handing it over to his friend without anyone noticing. He thanked himself for all the practice he got in the fifth grade at this time with passing note since the teacher looked straight at him when he gave it to Pete too.

Pete opened the note as soon as he was sure the teacher wasn't looking anymore.

_Something happened last night. _

Pete gave Clark a questioning look then wrote something down and passed it back to Clark he opened the note

_What happened?_

Quickly Clark scribbled a few more words on the paper and passed it back

_I'll tell you later. Chloe and I are meeting over at the Talon_ _and we're going to study for a math test with Lana. Come by and I'll tell you what happened. _

Pete looked over at Clark and nodded.

A/N: Thanks guys for the awesome reviews! k, anywho here's another installment to this story enjoy!

------------------------------

Looking back over at the teacher, the teen sighed and stuffed the papers in his desk, closing his eyes and gently allowing his head to lower down to the wood as he closed his eyes and felt the sweet pleasure of silence and slumber overtake him. And for the rest of the class that's how he was, fast asleep on the desk snoring lightly while the world around him disappeared.

Clark found himself back down in the caves staring at the wall. The key was already in place but nothing was happening. Clark sighed in relief and started walking away when a booming voice filled the air.

"Kal-El your time is up." Clark spun around and glared at the wall. "What do you mean?" There was no answer he slammed his fist into the wall, and suddenly everything around him lit up in a dark blue illumination.

"What the hell do you want now?" This time there was a response. "You must decide who is most important to you Kal-El and that time has come." Clark turned around to see Lana and Chloe staring at him both of them smiling.

He wiped around to stare at the wall again. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You have two loves in your life Kal-El, you must choose which one is more important to you. If you do not by sundown, life as you know it will change forever." There was a bright light and a shrill ringing of a bell Clark woke from his sleep to find everyone leaving trying as fast as they could to get out of the school and home. Clark was confused for a few minutes until he remembered that he needed to talk Chloe after school. He slowly stood up and walked out the door and down to the Torch.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**---------------------------------------------- **

** A/N:** and there you have it. hope you guys had fun and remember to review!


	3. What's going on?

Walking as fast as he could down the school hallways, Clark pushed aside everyone that tried to get in his way, taking sharp turns when he finally got to the door of the Torch office. Smiling wearily and rushing into it to find a blonde haired girl placing a bunch of books in her backpack looking up at him with a chuckle, he sighed in relief and walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulder as she darted one of her eyebrows down and pulled away from him a little confused.

"Chloe, you're just the person I want to see." He told her, gulping saliva down his dry throat as she swung her purse over her shoulder and walked over to the door, shrugging and placing her hand on the post of the entrance while she was still facing him as she grinned at kindly.

"Talk at the Talon Clark, remember? I got to get going if I'm going to get a ride from Jessica Miller." Clark just stared at Chloe for a minute before putting on another smile and letting her walk out. Chloe looked back, "See you later Clark."

He just smiled and waved back to her, then went inside and sat down at one of the desks. He twirled a pencil around in his hand before putting it down and searching through the desk for something to keep him occupied. As he dug he felt something sharp slice into his hand. He yelped and quickly pulled it out to examine it. There was a huge gash in his hand. Horrified that he was actually hurt, he pulled out his pocket knife and slid it across his finger. He knew he wasn't hallucinating when blood hurried to the surface of the cut. Terrified at what was happening, he left the Torch, got into his truck and sped away.

Driving down the road somewhat quickly, Clark bit his lower lip as he tried to hold his palm against the steering wheel as tight as he could to stop the bleeding, a napkin wrapped around it as he panicked dearly. What was going on with him? First this morning he couldn't super speed and all through school he had a pounding headache. Now he had actually cut himself. He, the invincible Clark Kent had his skin incised. He was pretty much freaking out at the moment.

Trying his best to pay attention to the road in front of him, he gulped loudly and blew air through his cheeks, ignoring the throbbing twinge in his hand and the fear that was jumbling up in his stomach as he tried to just concentrate on getting to the Talon. Maybe then telling Pete about what was going on could take a load off of him. But right when he felt relived a sudden, abrupt piercing buzz rang in the back of his neck, causing him to shriek loudly and hold his head with one of his hands whole closing his eyes tightly in pain.

Trying to ignore the sharp hum, he opened his eyes and tried to keep the truck on the road the best he could. It wasn't helping much though. He closed his eyes tightly again not noticing the car swerve violently on the road as he opened his eyes once more, but all he saw were bright lights so closing them again was all he could do. He only opened his eyes once more when he heard a low honking.

Clark's eyes went wide as he saw a large, white semi truck heading right towards him, and his limbs went numb in fear. Knowing that he had to do something, he closed his eyes tightly, the drone in his head no longer a bother to him since he was more terrified of what was going on while he slammed his foot on the brake. It wasn't working. "Oh god." He whispered, trying over and over to force the pedal but having no luck in stopping the vehicle. Before anything else could happen though, the hefty truck impacted to the front of his car and everything around him went black.

Clark woke up a few seconds after the collision, his head was pounding fiercely and…wait he couldn't move anything…why? That's when the pain hit him. It was all over his body. He attempted to take a deep breath but started coughing as soon as he tried. He looked around; the inside of the truck was a wreck. Horrified, he looked out the other side just in time to see another car coming right at him. 'No' was his last thought as everything went black once again.

-----------------------------------

A/N: k, so this chapter was a little short, but I hope it was worth the wait and thank you guys for the reviews! you all rock!


	4. Is it Clark?

A/N: yeah....this one's kinda short to....but i still updated right? i'll probably have the next one out in a couple of days, so just be on the lookout!

-------------------------------------------------------

Chloe sighed as she looked down at her watch. The time read 5:30, causing her to wonder just where Clark was. He was supposed to be at the Talon a half hour ago, and even if he was always late, the worry she felt didn't go away. Just then Lana came running up to her.

"Lana, what is it?" She asked worriedly when she saw her face covered in wet tears and her panicked eyes looking straight at her.

"There's been an accident out on the main highway. I-it looked like the Kent truck but I can't be sure. It's been all over the news though. No one's sure what happened yet but apparently the truck swerved over into the other lane and a semi truck hit it at a high speed--"

"Whoa Lana, slow down is the news still on?" Lana nodded. "Okay then let's just watch and see who was hurt okay?" Chloe followed Lana into the back room and sat down to watch for any current updates, since the last time Lana had seen it another car had rammed into the same truck.

"We've just confirmed that the driver of the red truck is a seventeen-year-old boy. We don't know the name of the boy yet or his condition at this time. We'll update you as these events unfold." The news women said. Right then and there, Chloe and Lana knew that at that moment it was what they had feared all along. The boy was Clark Kent.

Evening time filled the living room of the Kent house as Jonathan and Martha sat down on the couch next to each other, the husband having his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder as they flipped through the channels on TV curiously to what was on and what to watch. Their son hadn't come home like he was suppose to right after school and all they could do was wait to see him come through the front door. Sighing, the mother leaned her head against the man's chest and closed her eyes gently, ignoring the sound of the channel's tossing back and forth as she licked her lips and looked up at him wretchedly.

"You sure you don't know why Clark went to the caves this morning Jonathan?" Martha asked him, hearing a simple sigh escape his mouth as he looked down at her and shook his head forlornly. "I told you Martha, he won't tell me a thing. All I know was that he was in his pajamas when I found him and he was acting unusual…he also looked a little different when you think about it too. Either way we shouldn't worry about it. He said he's fine and we should believe him." Jonathan informed her, not getting a happy respond out of the woman as they both turned back over to the small screen in front of them. He wasn't exactly happy with not knowing why his son was down in the caves either, but the point was that the boy wasn't going to tell them.

Suddenly, the father stopped flipping through the TV when he saw something on a certain channel, sticking with the news and listening to a woman with brown hair talk in a microphone outside near the thoroughfare of their small town. And as both listened, Martha soon placed her hand to her mouth and Jonathan's face saddened sorrowfully.

"Yes Jim, it is verified that the driver of the red Dodge truck is a young teenager, around the age of sixteen or seventeen and was rushed to Smallville Medical Center immediately after encountering a head-on collision with a Luthor Corp vehicle. We don't have information on his condition or the other drivers that collided into his truck, but we will have more news on this situation soon. Back to you."

The mother's face went shocked. "Oh my god, that's horrible. That poor boy…..you don't think it could be Clark do you?" Martha asked as immediately Jonathan shook his head.

"Martha there's no way that it could be Cla-" He was cut short by the phone ringing and Martha was the one who got up and answered it with a cheerful 'Hello'. But her cheerfulness soon faded as she heard what the voice on the other line was telling her.

"Are you the parent or guardian of Clark Kent?"

"Y-yes I'm his mother."

The voice on the other line paused, "Mrs. Kent, I'm from the staff of Smallville Medical Center, your son has been involved in a serious accident. You need to come down here right away."

Martha dropped the phone after hearing this but quickly recovered it. "O-okay we'll be down soon." She hung up the phone and raced over to Jonathan with tears streaming down her face.

"Jonathan that was Smallville Medical Center…" She sobbed. "Clark's there."  
That's all Jonathan needed to hear as he jumped up, grabbed the keys to the car and ran out the door with Martha right behind him.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. A Doctor's Secret

A/N: hi guys! here's another chapter for ya, and remember, keep up the great reviews!

Manically driving down the road of her small town, Chloe tried her best to stay calm as she rushed down to the infirmary. Lana sat in the passenger seat, not only with water flowing down her cheeks but a scared look on her face from how crazy her friend was driving.

"Chloe, we want to go to the hospital, not end up as a patient there!" She exclaimed, clinging onto her seat belt for dear life when the blonde-haired person took a sharp turn that led the car to the tilt to the side.

She didn't reply though. All she could do was press down on the gas harder by the second in hope to get to the sanatorium even faster. Lana understood this completely; however, at the moment all she wanted to do was crawl into a ball and cry her eyes out. Clark Kent had been hit by a truck, a truck and a car to be exact and was in the hospital that very moment. It was too surreal and scary to even think about. What if he was dying? What if he was already dead? Letting out a sob and covering her mouth with her hand to hold back more tears, Lana closed her eyes tightly and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she felt the car take another sharp turn.

Eventually as time went by they made it to the entrance of Smallville Medical Center where Chloe found a quick parking spot in the visiting zone and jumped out of the buggy. It took the raven-haired girl some time though to get out as she slowly removed her seat strap and opened the door before jumping out.

Lana didn't think she'd ever run so fast in her life as she had that very moment she and Chloe reached the receptions desk at the same time. "Has an accident victim by the name of Clark Kent been brought to the hospital?" Lana asked trying to keep her emotions in check. The bright blonde haired attendant who looked about their age just stared at her for a minute then asked, "Are you family?"

Lana paused. "No but we're really close friends and…-" Lana was interrupted by a couple almost flying through the doors and running up to both her and the blonde. Martha looked at them,

"Please tell me Clark's alright." Chloe looked down at the ground instantly in fear of what to say.

"We don't know anything Mrs. Kent, I'm sorry." Martha looked over at the attendant and snapped. "Was a boy by the name of Clark Kent brought in here? I'm his mother and these two are family. Now tell me where he is."

The attendant looked hurriedly down at the chart in front of her and said, "Dr. Bennett is over seeing his care right now. But you'll have to wait in the waiting room until someone comes to get you." Martha nodded and started walking away shortly followed by Jonathan, Lana, and Chloe.

Sauntering into an area where the lights were lit dimly for the evening time and only two strangers sat down reading books, Martha leaned her head against Jonathan's chest like she had done before and allowed tears to fall down her face, grabbing onto his arm and holding it tightly as she tried to take deep breaths to control herself. Never had she thought she would be in a hospital waiting room for her son. Gulping loudly as she watched the two girls take different seats next to each other, she followed her husband to the chairs and slowly took a seat herself when she suddenly heard the blonde haired girl speak up.

"I don't think I can sit here and wait for some doctor to come in and tell me my friend's fate when I could be out hunting down the person who did this!" She stood up and walked out the waiting room doors, no one protesting her leaving since they knew it was no good to try and stop her. Over from the corner they heard the strangers start to laugh, and Lana looked over at them disgusted with them. 'How could they be happy at a time like this?' She thought. Clark was hurt, and to Lana, no one should be happy until she knew that he was safe. She scolded herself at thinking this 'Just because they don't have to deal with something like this doesn't mean I have to be selfish about it. Geeze Lana, get a hold of yourself!'

Running her hands down her face, she gulped back the tears in her throat and blew air through her cheeks. The day was almost over and by the time mid-night hit, her friend, her love, could be dead. 'Oh my, how can this be happening? He was just supposed to come to the Talon. That's it. Not get in some car accident.' Lana told herself, biting her lip as she looked over at the Kent's and saw how much of a wreck they were. It must be harder for them then on her to know that Clark was in the hospital. Deciding not to think about what was going on anymore, Lana closed her eyes gently and leaned her head back against the rest of the chair as she let everything around her slowly slip away so silence could flow into her ears and peacefulness wander her mind.

Meanwhile, Chloe walked down the halls fiercely rubbing her eyes as more tears fell. She couldn't believe that this was happening to someone so innocent. What did Clark ever do to deserve this? All Clark ever tried to do was make peoples lives better. Never thinking about is own life. 'Why, God?' She thought 'Why are you doing this to him?'

Walking faster down the halls she suddenly stopped as she heard Clark's name mentioned by what she could only assume was a doctor. Quickly she hid by the door listening to what the doctor had to say…

"Michael, you don't understand, he's unstable-he needs to be in the ICU!" One man said, his voice not deep but not high pitch as Chloe bit her lip and slowly turned her head into the room. It wasn't good enough to see anything though. A file cabinet was blocking most of her view and it caused her to curse in her head as she continued to listen to what the physicians had to say.

"No-no, we can't take that risk Parker. His head trauma is too severe; moving him around is too dangerous." Another spoke, his voice stressed out as Chloe's face saddened at what she was hearing. Head trauma? How could Clark have head trauma? Yet again, how was he in the hospital in the first place? She had always thought of him as the invincible Clark Kent, and now from what she was hearing the invincible Clark Kent was on his last lines dying. Peaking her head in some more, she caught a glimpse of two men, one blonde and the other brunette, wearing long white trench coats standing over a long bed, and on that bed was a boy. Chloe had to turn away though from the sickening sight. That wasn't Clark. It couldn't be Clark.

"Ugh, I don't understand how this boy wasn't AD." A doctor mumbled slightly, putting his head in his hands as behind the door Chloe's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open. She knew what AD meant. Arrived Dead. Sucking in her lips and feeling a warm drop of water glide down her cheek, she held her breath tightly as she listened to the other man talk, guessing it was the blonde from his tone of voice but not really caring since all she wanted was so know what was going on with her friend.

"Okay, I've never understood your language Michael. Are you trying to tell me to pull his plugs?" Immediately gasping, the girl covered her mouth with both of her hands, trying not to make any more noise while hoping none of them heard her. However she wanted to be safe and turned back over to the door where the listened closely instead of looking at what was going on. Chloe couldn't help but think though as they did. Was this really happening? Was Clark actually dying and was his fate held by two doctors who could take away his life any moment at any time?

"I don't know. He's only a teenager, I don't know if he can handle what's going to come." The other man replied, and just as she was about to lean in some more, she heard footsteps coming towards her. Chloe's stomach started twisting in knots and doing flip-flops as she looked behind her in the room and then down the left hall where someone was coming. Instantaneously, she ran down the other end of the lobby while repeating what the other doctor had said in her mind. And as she ran, she prayed that Clark would live.

Clark felt like he was falling into a never-ending pit of darkness. He tried to yell for help but no noise came from his mouth. He had remembered driving down the road wondering what was happening to him. Then after that everything had gone dark. Some time later, he could only guess, he had the feeling that people were working on him, almost like they were trying to save him. There was still something wrong though, if they were in fact trying to save him, why hadn't they figured out he was different? That question, was not to be answered for sometime as he was pulled even further into the darkness below.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	6. The Site

Late evening time filled the Ross house as Pete sat down on his couch looking at his watch in the living room. He still had a few minutes until he needed to be over at the Talon, which meant time to kill until he had to leave. Just as he was about to turn on the TV, there was a knock at the door.

Expecting someone to get it, he proceeded to turn on the TV until the knocking became more frantic. Pete got up muttering to himself, "I'm comin', geeze, hold on a sec." He opened the door to a very panicked and sobbing Chloe, which got worry to fill up his body. "Chloe, what's wrong? What happened?" She stepped inside and Pete gathered her in a hug.

"Pete i-it's just so horrible."

"What is Chloe? What's going on?"

"I-it's Clark, he was in an accident. The doctors are wondering how he's even still alive. I-It's not looking very good for him." She broke down again sobbing even harder in his arms.

"Shhh…Chloe it's okay. How about I take you back over to the hospital with me?" Pete asked, honestly inside not feeling so worried since it was Clark she was talking about. He was probably fine just trying to hide the fact that he was different from the doctors.

Chloe nodded wiping her eyes, "Yeah, okay…Pete I'm sorry, I so shouldn't be acting like this."

Pete looked her in the eye, "Chloe, don't you ever say that, you have every right to be acting like this. Your best friend is in the hospital." Chloe just looked at him for a moment then started walking out the front door. "Come on Pete, Clark needs us now." He grabbed his keys and walked out the door after Chloe.

Rushing outside, Pete jogged over to his blue 'pimp' vehicle and flew the door open, about to go inside when he noticed Chloe jump in the passenger's seat. He couldn't help but dart his eyebrows down confused and look at her puzzled. "Chloe, don't you have your car?" He asked her, seeing right away her cheeks that were wet with tears blush and he nodded his head in understanding, knowing that she was a total wreck at the moment.

Sitting down in his seat and shoving his keys in the engine, he swiftly pulled out of the driveway and started to drive down the artery with thoughts clogging up his mind. Clark was in the hospital? Clark as in the Clark who was invulnerable and indestructible?

Maybe he was just a little hurt, like a few cuts and bruises. It didn't explain why Chloe was breaking down next to him, but he knew that Clark couldn't get hurt. It was part of knowing his secret.

Switching on his headlights through the darkness, he pulled onto the other lane when he saw that the one he was driving in was blocked, a huge line of cars in front of him getting both him and Chloe confused as the girl stuck her head out the window to see more.

"What the hell…" Pete trailed off as he got out of his car. He could see the huge wreckage ahead. Still not knowing what was going on he turned to Chloe. "Do you know anything about this?" Chloe nodded, "That's where Clark's accident was." All the color drained from Pete's face, "Oh my god…I didn't think it was that bad." Pete went up a little further to see the damage. A crane was there pulling the red GMC out of the middle of everything. He gasped as he saw the truck - it was completely mangled to the point of no recognition.

'This is bad' Pete thought 'This is really bad.' Chloe came up to him to see what he was shocked at and looked at the now mangled truck almost passing out, and if it hadn't been for her hard hitting reporter skills, she probably would have. She looked over at the semis that had hit the Kent truck. It barely had a dent in it, and it angered Chloe that nothing had happened to that driver yet there Clark was lying in a hospital bed on the brink of death. She couldn't the sight anymore, she grabbed Pete.  
"Come on let's find another way to the hospital."

* * *

Jonathan paced back and forth in the waiting room of Smallville Medical Center with his hands practically pulling out his hair, his wife sitting down in a chair to the right of him as the sound of silence felt like it was choking him around the neck like crazy. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to find out what was wrong with his son. The father walked down the room and back up to the admits desk; the same blonde from earlier sitting there.

"I need to know what's going on. Now, can you tell me anything about my son?" The blonde just had a blank look on her face before responding, "I told you sir, you need to wait in the waiting room until someone comes for you."

This just angered Jonathan, "I have been waiting in that damn room for over five hours and no one has come to get me! Now I want to know what the hell is going on with my son and I want to know now!" He started pushing papers to the floor. Martha, hearing the racket, rushed out of the waiting room seeing papers scattered everywhere.

"Jonathan Kent what are you doing!" she ran over to him and grabbed his arm pulling him into a corner. "This is not going to help us find out about Clark any faster with you doing this! Now we are going back into that waiting room and we're going to wait just like everyone else." Jonathan put his head down ashamed at his actions and followed his wife back into the waiting room.

As they walked back into the area where now only one man, a young teenager sat down in a chair on the other side of the room looking just as worried as them, the automatic doors zipped opened to show a blonde haired reporter and a darker color boy comer rushing up to them. You could see that the girl was looking sadder then the other teenager though as they instantly went up to the parents and gasped for breath.

"How is he?" Pete asked them first when he saw the depressing looks on Martha and Jonathan's face, watching the father collapse into a chair and place his face in his hands as Martha glanced behind him before looking back at the teen's sadly.

Chloe and Pete went to sit down noticing the sleeping Lana. Her eyes were red from crying so much and she looked exhausted. They tried not to wake her as they walked by her. They sat in a distant corner, Pete facing her, "Alright Chloe, I'm still out of the loop. What exactly happened to make Clark end up at the hospital?"

"I'm not sure on that part Pete. Lana had turned on the news and I came over and watched it with her, I don't know but right after they said that the driver of the truck was a seventeen-year-old boy we just knew it was him. We rushed over here and were about to ask about him when Mr. and Mrs. Kent rushed through the doors. That confirmed our suspicions that Clark had been brought here….and now here we are waiting to see if Clark's okay or not." Chloe didn't dare tell anyone what she had over heard between the doctors earlier she knew that would devastate the Kent's, Pete, and most of all Lana.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. DOA?

Hey guys, thanks for the awesome reviews! here's another part of the story!

!#&()

Silence filled the hospital waiting room, the lights faintly lit like they had been before, as five people were sitting in different chairs. A blonde and a raven haired girl assembled down across from each other in blue seats, a darker color boy in the far corner of the area, while two parents sat down next to each other wide awake.

It was extremely early in the morning, around four to be exact, as everyone continued to wait to hear news on the boy who was in the car accident that was all over the news, proving so by the TV that was hanging on the wall. Even if it was mute, they were able to see what was going on for the broadcast of the situation that everyone was talking about, or at least they could anyway. For the mother every time she glanced up there she would usually catch a glimpse of the car wreck, a sob escaping her lips afterwards as she saw what catastrophe her son was actually in.

Over by the two sleeping teenage girls, Chloe's hands slowly let the magazine that were locked in her palms slip away and fall down on her lap, her head leaning back against the backside of the chair she sat it, her mind in deep slumber when suddenly the publication fell down to the floor and snapped both her and the other girl awake from siesta. Lana looked around for a minute confused at what was going on when she remembered why she was here. She stared in front of her blankly and saw Chloe was just as confused as she was. Lana walked over and sat next to her, causing Chloe looked up.

"Hey," Chloe said, sleep still evident in her voice. "Are you okay?" Lana simply nodded at her words.

"Yeah." The girl nearly mumbled while Chloe could sense the fake cheeriness in her voice, making her sigh and tilt her head to the side. "Come on Lana, I know when you're lying. It's okay, I'm your friend – you can talk to me."

Lana laughed a little, "I guess I'm a horrible liar, huh?"

"Yes, you are. Now talk." Lana sucked in a breath and then sighed heavily. "I've just been thinking, what if we had asked Clark to come over earlier? Do you think this still would've happened?"

Chloe shrugged, "Lana, we can't go on with our lives based on 'what ifs'. What happened, happened and there isn't anything we could've done to stop it." Chloe sadly informed her, the words she spoke choking her throat as she was still convincing herself that they couldn't have done anything to stop what happened to their friend.

Lana nodded even though she still didn't feel any better. "I guess you're right, if we did that we wouldn't be able to live life very well, huh?" Chloe smiled her first real smile since she came to the hospital.

"Yeah. What we need to do now is to be here for Clark and pray he makes it through this." Lana was about to respond when a doctor came into the room and started walking over towards them.

The Kent's were the first ones to jump up, their legs seeming less numb than everyone else's with the worry that was jumbling up in their stomachs. Lana and Chloe exchanged quick glances before both got up and ambled over to the sleeping Pete quickly where they woke him up. It didn't take less then a nudge to snap him out of slumber however, his mind foggy at first until Lana whispered something about the physician and he shot up from his seat immediately.

The moment the reporter turned around though she instantly saw that the doctor coming towards them was familiar. She had seen him before when she snuck around to get information on her friend. He had dark blonde hair, tall, about six feet, and tan yet at the same time pale skin. He was the one that wanted to pull her friend's plugs. It was that moment that Chloe felt her lungs cut off air and her body go frozen. Was Clark…?

"Mr. and Mrs. Kent?" He asked the couple, walking up to the father and giving him a handshake when they nodded their heads.

"I'm Dr. Bennett, the one supervising over your son's condition." The doctor told him, shaking the father's hand as the husband tried to control the fear that was rushing through his veins by gulping loudly and nodding his head once more.

"How's my son Doctor?" Jonathan inquired, not getting the best respond out of the man when he sucked in his lips and let a loud sigh out through his clutched teeth, stuffing one of his hands in his pocket while his other arm held a brown clipboard in his palm.

"I think it might be best if you sit down for this." Dr. Bennett told them both, looking behind him when he felt the presence of other people and seeing three teenagers looking at him worriedly about a few feet away, the girls clinging onto each other's arms and the boy having his arms placed to his chest. It was obvious that his patient had family and friends. That's what made what he was going to do all the harder.

Sitting down in a chair next to the father who was next to his wife, he cleared his throat and looked down at his clipboard, closing his eyes for a second before bringing his head up and staring into the older man's eyes. "Mr. Kent, I'm afraid your son is suffering from austere injuries that…um, t-that should have made him DOA." Dr. Bennett told him, rubbing his forehead and sighing once again as Jonathan darted his eyebrows down, looked back at his wife, and then look back at the physician.

"DOA?" He questioned, seeing the blonde haired man bring his head and look at him forlornly.

"Dead on arrival." Hearing Martha gasp, Dr. Bennett balled his hands into tight fist until he felt his knuckles go white, trying not to bit his lower lip which had become an habit since he knew that if they couldn't take the fact that he should have been DOA they couldn't take what was going to come.

"He has severe head trauma from the head-on collision with the truck and that's given him TBI…traumatic brain injury. It was expected that he would have it with the head trauma from the crash. Car accidents are a leading cause of brain injuries, and brain injuries usually occur when the head strikes the dashboard, windshield or the steering wheel during the impact." Dr. Bennett enlightened the parents, looking down at the ground or at his clipboard to avoid the looks on the couple's faces. He hated this part of his job.

Martha slowly covered her mouth with her hand in shock, her arms trembling and tears flowing down her face as she gripped Jonathan's arm tightly and took deep inhales at what she was hearing. Jonathan just stared blankly at the doctor confused, puzzled, and traumatized at what he was telling them. It was almost as if he was hearing this about someone else, not Clark.

"We're doing our best to help him with that, but with his other injuries…" Trailing off when he heard a loud sob from the mother, Dr. Bennett sighed and looked over at the three teens, all of them shocked too at what they were hearing as he promptly shifted in the chair he sat in and brought the clipboard up to his eyes.

"His other injuries in fact are whiplash, which he received from the force of the truck crashing into his car. This is common in car accidents when the car stops short or gets hit from an unexpected direction. We're keeping his neck in a tight brace and still because so in case any movement might make it worst." He told them, gulping saliva down his dry throat as he licked his lips and sighed. He wanted to get the basics down but he also had to explain everything to the parents so they understood what was going on with their son. He just wanted to get the worst over with.

"His vertebrae is also fractured, most likely from the sudden force and deceleration the blow was since the impacts of collisions like his compresses or damages the back. I'm…uh, we might…we might have to perform surgery when he's stable. Severe injuries of the spinal cord can lead to complete paralysis or paraplegia and surgical treatment may prevent that happening to him in the near future." Jonathan couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment. This was his son the man was talking about. He never, never thought that from the moment he walked into the hospital it was going to be this awful. The father knew it was bad, but not what he was hearing. No, the words the doctor spoke made his whole body go numb to the world around him. He couldn't feel his wife sobbing in his chest or see through the corner of his eyes the teens stand in shock. He just felt numb to everything as Dr. Bennett continued to speak.

"His other injuries are typical and unsurprisingi-in his situation. He had a lot of eternal bleeding in his stomach, torso, and sideobviously from the smash of the car that crashed into the left area of the truck. He's lost a lot of blood and has cuts, bruises and gashes all over his body. His left leg is broken in three places and his right wrist was snapped in half. There's a lot of harm done to his ribs too. They're pretty much crushed to put it simply, which caused his left lung to collapse." He said, gulping again and closing his eyes gently when he was finished. Stuffing her head in her husband's chest, Martha cried lightly as she heard the news that the doctor had spoke, and as she did, the father held her close to him and looked up at the man despondently.

"Is that it?" Jonathan asked him wretchedly, swallowing back the large lump that had formed while he watched the doctor lower his head and shake it back and forth.

"He can't breathe on his own so we have to keep him on a respirator. Until we can get him stable we're going to keep a close eye on him up in the ICU." Dr. Bennett informed them, standing up from his chair and placing the clipboard under his arm as he sighed sadly and heaved his shoulders up and then down.

"Right now we're focusing on keeping him alive though. The next few days will be critical for him to survive. If he makes it through those days, we'll just have to watch and wait to see what we can do. I'll come and get you when you can see him." He finished telling them, nodding his head as a goodbye as he walked back down the hallways, passing the three teens and giving them a quick glance before going out of their sights. And as Martha sobbed heavily in Jonathan's chest, Pete fell back down in his chair in pure, utter shock. Chloe stood in stunned disbelief, and Lana tried to keep herself calm, taking deep breaths from breaking down. For some reason she felt as if she was floating on air, and like she wasn't even in the horrible waiting room anymore. She felt different. She felt scared.

After the doctor left, Chloe and Lana broke down. Pete was stunned for a few moments before walking over and trying to comfort the girls. "Come on, let's go sit down."  
They walked over to the corner and sat down as Lana tried to wipe her tears, but her efforts were futile.

"I just can't believe this is happening to Clark. Why does this happen to people who try to do nothing but help?" Chloe shook her head at her friend's sob.

"I don't know, but it's not fair, that's for sure. This just can't be happening." Pete stared down at the floor while she said that.

"This shouldn't be happening. Everyone who saw the accident said Clark swerved into the truck. What do you think happened?" Chloe thought for a moment at Pete's words. 'Why would Clark swerve into traffic? That's not like him.'

"It's weird, Clark's usually a really safe driver He would never do that intentionally." Pete told them, knowing his friend so much to the point where he knew that he wouldn't drive into traffic. For no reason anyway.

"Something must've happened to him," Chloe got up. "And I'm going to find out what."

Lana went after her when she said that. "Chloe, wait where are you going?"

"To the accident scene, there has to be something there."

Pete got up also, "Chloe you can't go alone. I'm coming with you." Chloe nodded as she walked out the door Pete started after her when he stopped and looked over at Lana, "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll go and keep the Kent's company. If you want, I can call you if anything changes."

He nodded, "Thanks Lana, we'll keep you posted too."

Lana couldn't believe what was happening. It was too surreal, too frightening. Watching Chloe and Pete walk out of the waiting room, she placed her arms up to her chest as if she was cold, actually feeling shivers crawl down her spine causing her to close her eyes and bow her head. She could feel tears drying on her cheeks and fresh ones coming. The words that the doctor had spoken were still replaying in her head. If she hadn't looked over at the Kent's, then she would have told herself that it wasn't Clark. It was in fact just some stranger in the hospital who could die any second at any given time. When she did look over at the parents she saw something that made sadness drop into her stomach though.

Martha was sobbing loudly in Jonathan's chest as the man tried to calm her down but was failing miserably with what he was feeling too – the guilt and sorrow of what had happened to their son sinking in while from the far corner of the room the raven-haired girl watched them. Gulping saliva down her desiccated throat, Lana saw through the corner of her eye the blonde haired doctor who they had just saw less then five minutes ago come walking back into the waiting room, stopping in the hallway that lead to another place and sticking his head out slightly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kent, if you follow me you can come and see him." Dr. Bennett said as Lana watched Jonathan and Martha stand up from their seats and walk towards him, the husband holding his wife close to him as the girl took heavy breathes when they passed by her. Wiping away her tears, she strolled over to an empty seat and fell down in it, bringing her knees to her chest while she stared down at the floor and wondered desperately what was going to happen next.

Dr. Bennett led the couple into Clark's room, but Martha wasn't prepared for the sight before her. She broke down as she saw Clark, Jonathan trying to comfort her but to no avail. Clark was a mess, a small plastic tube sticking out of his mouth, connecting to a machine keeping him alive.

There were bandages on his head, torso, and stomach. His arm was bandaged up so much it looked twice as big as normal. His leg was elevated and bound up in a plaster cast. There were various cuts and bruises on his face Jonathan led Martha over to a chair next to her son's bed. She tried to touch him, but she was afraid if she did he might break. So there she sat staring at her once invincible son, fighting for his life. 'how did this happen?' she thought 'this just can't be possible. How can a boy who can survive getting shot multiple times be this fragile?'

These questions played over and over in Martha's head. Jonathan was about to settle in next to his wife when the doctor came up to him, "Mr. Kent, can I see you outside?"

He nodded and turned to his wife. "I'll be back honey." She nodded and Jonathan followed the doctor out the door.

Closing the door gently behind him, the father gulped loudly and closed his eyes for a second trying to get the image that he had saw out of his mind, turning around and looking at the doctor for help when he saw the bleak expression on his face that got him worried and concerned. "What is it?" Jonathan asked, biting his lower lip uncontrollably as Dr. Bennett sighed and looked down at the ground while stuffing his hands in his long, white trench coat pockets.

"Mr. Kent, your son has a serious case of TBI that could kill him at any second. It's most likely that when he wakes up he'll have problems such as memory lost and physical disablements from the impact of both the truck and car that hit him." Dr. Bennett informed him, looking down at the ground when he finished as Jonathan felt his lungs take in small inhales of air while he heard this and gulped loudly whilst running his hands down his tired and weary face.

"W-What kind of disabilities?" He inquired, not looking at the doctor eye-to-eye but hearing him answer his question with a reply he didn't want to hear.

"Honestly, any kind. Traumatic brain injury can damage the parts of the brain that tell a person how to move certain limbs or eat, speak and even stay conscious." The doctor told him, wincing to himself as he saw tears well up in the father's eyes and his head turn over to the large window that showed his wife sitting down next to his son who looked like he rather will be dead with all the machines and equipment around him keeping him alive.

The doctor hesitated at telling Jonathan the rest of the news but pressed on, "Mr. Kent, there is a chance Clark won't wake up again due to the massive trauma to his head."

Jonathan looked down at the floor then back up at Dr. Bennett, "How big is that chance?"

"There's a seventy percent chance he won't come to. I'm sorry Mr. Kent, but there's really nothing we can do until his condition stabilizes more."

Jonathan nodded, "I understand, if he does wake up, is he likely to remember much of what happened?"

The Dr. Bennett shook his head, "It isn't likely. In fact, you need to prepare the fact that Clark might not remember you or any of his friends."

'This can't be happening,' Jonathan thought 'It just can't.'

Jonathan looked back into the room where his wife was sitting by his son as right there, most of the hope that he had of his son making it soon left.

The doctor excused himself as he went back in the room, his wife looked up at him, "What did the doctor say Jonathan?" He hesitated not quite sure he wanted to devastate her with the information he had just heard,

"He said…he said everything was fine, if no complications arise, he said Clark should make a good recovery." Jonathan felt a little guilty that he lied to his wife after seeing the relief on her face, he knew that if Clark didn't make it, she'd know he had lied to her. And he couldn't change that.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Alone

A/N: sorry it's taken so long to update, crazy school and such. But here's another part! and i'll be updating�again this weekend!

* * *

Pete sat down in the driver's seat of his car with Chloe next to him, his foot on the pedal and his eyes looking straight ahead at the road as both tried to keep their eyes open with the early morning time flowing around. The sun had hardly even rose with the time as cold air blew by and the sound of the vehicle's noises filled their ears. Silence roamed between the two teens, the only clatter that was heard was either a sniff from the blonde or a cough from the darker color boy. Luckily however, after about an half and hour of driving, the boy stuck his head out the window when he saw red and blue yellow lights blinking in his eyes and an industrial accident coming ahead.

"This it?" Pete asked, looking over at the reporter who nodded her head shakily. Chloe got out of the car and started walking toward the accident scene with Pete following her. She was about to walk in when a police officer stopped her.

"I'm sorry ma'am I'm afraid I can't let you through here." Chloe sighed. She hated it when this type of thing happened. "Um, listen, I'm a reporter doing a story on this and I wanted to get some pictures of the accident." She winced inwardly for the reason that she hated using these kinds of tactics to get what she wanted. The officer shook his head again.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you through, we're still questioning the witnesses." Suddenly from behind, a guy that looked just a little older than her and Pete walked forward.

"Hey officer are we done here? I really need to get home." The officer turned and faced him when those words were said. "Mister, I still need to know what happened right before you hit the truck."

Pete started to shake with rage when he heard that. This was the guy that landed Clark in the hospital and he didn't even have any scratches on him. He didn't care what had happened to Clark, all he cared about was leaving this place. Suddenly he jumped forward and grabbed the guy.

"You sick bastard, I can't believe you aren't even thinking about the person you landed in the hospital." He threw a punch, satisfied he had made contact with his face.

"My friend is fighting for his life right now and all you can think about is leaving? Where are you going to go huh? Home? So you can go on living your life as if nothing happened?" Tears nearly got in the way of his anger as Chloe struggled to pull Pete off the guy before any officers had a chance to. "Pete, come on, he's not worth it. Please stop Pete!"

The boy stood still for a while even with what Chloe said though, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that Pete stopped and backed away. "Come on, let's see if we can find anything."

Ambling down the scene, Chloe sucked in her lips to hold back her tears as she saw the red truck that her friend would always drive in nothing but a crumbled piece of crushed metal being pulled away by a crane. It caused her to close her eyes and look away to see Pete in front of her with his hand on the yellow police line tape keeping them from going inside the incident, his palm strolling across it as he walked with his mind obviously in another world. The blonde knew he was upset about what was going on, but she didn't know anger was the way he coped with it.

"Talk about the news of the century." Chloe tried to laugh some to break the silence between her and the boy, only getting a chuckle that faded away when Pete turned around and glared at her irritably. She instantly shut up after that. Blowing air through her cheeks wretchedly, the girl pulled her purse up her shoulder and sighed heavily, closing her eyes tightly to wake herself up some. As she did, she could smell the fresh scent of coffee and doughnuts enter her senses and cause her to relax suddenly. She loved the smell of morning time, it just calmed her down. Her tranquility was interrupted however when she opened her eyes up once again and saw a certain bald man talking to a police officer ahead of them.

"Pete." Nudging on Pete's shoulder to get his attention, Chloe pointed over to the right of them and glanced over at her friend when she saw him get livid, wincing a little but following his lead when he jogged over to where the man was. Ignoring the officers and pushing most of them aside, he ran over to the guy his eyes were locked on and grabbed his arm, straight away spinning him around and staring at him furiously.

"Why the hell aren't you at the hospital?" Pete retorted, not seeing Chloe soon catch up with him or the other officers gather around them as he merely gaped at Lex's face with anger.

"Whoa, Pete, why should I be over at the hospital?" Lex looked blankly into the angry eyes of the young Ross.

"You're really something Luthor, you know that? Do you even know what really went on here?" Pete stared disgusted at Lex. This was just too pitiful, if he and Clark were such 'good friends' why didn't he know Clark was fighting for his life at that very moment?

"Of course I know what happened, one of the company trucks was involved in an accident and I'm here to make sure everything's okay."

This just got Pete angrier, "You do know that they pulled out what looks like a mangled piece of red metal?" Lex nodded. "Then you should know that, that is what's left of the Kent's truck."

Lex stood with a stunned look on his face, "W-who was driving the truck?"

"Who do you think Lex! It was Clark; he's been fighting for his life while you've been out here making sure your precious company truck was alright!" Pete started walking back to his car as he went past Lex. "Some best friend you are!" Chloe just started at him with a mixture of anger and hurt.

"How could you not have known Lex?" Her voice was just barely above a whisper. She walked off after Pete leaving Lex to sit in his thoughts. After a few minutes he got up, informed someone he was leaving and drove as fast as he could down to Smallville Medical Center.

* * *

Pain. Piecing pain. Every part of my body is in pain. It's all I can feel. Pain.

I try to gasp for air but it's like someone is already breathing for me. Cold exposure to the world's atmosphere rushing down my throat and giving my lungs ability to keep me living. I'm living. Am I really living? What's going on? What happened? All I can remember is one thing…maybe two, maybe even a couple when you think about it. The more I think the more my thoughts slip away though. Being at the caves…gone. Talking to my dad…gone. Hearing Chloe ask me to the Talon…gone. Passing notes with Pete…gone. The only thing that seems to stay is crashing into a truck and seeing darkness.

I'm scared. What's going on? Am I dying? I want dad, I want mom, I want Lana. I want to get out of here. I want the pain to stop. I want to see light again. Why is everything so dark? Why can't I see? Why doesn't the pain just stop already?

………

Silence.

Those words echo in my mind. I'm asking myself why the pain won't stop. I'm asking myself all these questions that won't be answered because I'm alone. No one is here, no one is beside me. I'm alone. I'm alone, in pain. Horrible, horrible pain ripping through every inch of my body. I'm alone.

I'm alone.

* * *

Lex drove down to the hospital as fast as his Porsche would take him, his foot pushing on the peddle and his eyes looking straight at the road in front of him. Once he got to the medical center he ran through the entrance doors and up to the admit desk with heavy breaths escaping his mouth. "What room is Clark Kent in?" He looked down at the blond who popped her gum like she didn't even hear him.

"Are you family?"

Lex glared at her, "Look I don't have time for this, what room is Clark Kent in?" The blonde just stared as Lex was getting impatient, "Do you know who I am?"

Again the blonde stared, causing him to lean in closer. "Look, you tell me what room Clark Kent is in or I will make sure you never work in this town again." The blonde's eyes went wide and she quickly went searching through her papers on the desk.

"He's up in the ICU, room 234." After getting the information he ran up to the to the intensive care unit and was surprised to see Jonathan Kent standing outside of a hospital room with his arms crossed to his chest sadly.

Lex could simply see just by the way the father looked that something bad had happened. Heaving deep breaths, his chest moving up and down heavily, he gulped loudly and walked up to the man who had his arm resting on the door post of the entrance to the hospital room, his eyes closed and his head looking down at the ground desolately.

"Mr. Kent, I just heard what happenedI am so sorry I didn't come sooner." Lex said, not seeing him move or even glance at him when he spoke. All he did was stay still, his fingers feebly touching his forehead and his sight locked on the tile floor below him. Wincing, the rich man took another step forward and leaned his neck in some while licking his lips sorrowfully.

"How's Clark?" He asked, almost feeling hope jump in his stomach when Jonathan brought his head up and stared at him. It was the livid expression on his face that made Lex's appearance slowly unwind and his eyes fill up with guilt. He knew why he was mad at him and it immediately caused him to take the rest of the five steps up to him so they were face to face and gulp loudly.

"Mr. Kent I swear I didn't know it was Clark that was hurt; I thought it was some mindless teenager being stupid." Lex declared, begging to get him to look him in the eyes and not be irate at him but seeing that his expectations were far from happening when he saw the father bring his head up and tilt it to the side.

"How could you not have known Lex? It was all over the news; they even knew who was driving the car. And you of all people should have been the first to know. It was your company's truck that has put my son in a hospital bed fighting for his life!" Jonathan exclaimed, taking a step back from the man and turning around as Lex cursed in his head and clutched his teeth together when he heard those words. If he had just cared more about what happened then he would have known like everyone else. But the fact was he didn't, and it was obvious that he couldn't turn back time now.

"Mr. Kent" He tried to speak, however, immediately the father interrupted him, spinning around and pointing his finger at him angrily.

"No, Lex, I don't want to hear it. It's because of you that Clark might die, and damn it if he doesn't he won't remember anything that's happened in his life!" Jonathan retorted, fury rushing through his veins as Lex's face slowly softened up and soon enough was nothing but a blank expression. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, which meant there was worst to what had actually happened to his friend.

"Mr. Kent, I swear to god I am sorry. I'll call up all my specialist from Metropolis and-" Shaking his head and cutting him off again, Jonathan sighed through his teeth and held back the tears in his eyes by biting on his lower lip. "You don't get it, do you Lex? It's too late. He needs an operation that's too risky to takehe was just hit by a truck for god's sake! Nothing can save him now."

Jonathan choked out those words, closing his eyes and ignoring his call out saying his name when he turned to his left and opened up the door to the hospital room before walking into it and closing it on Lex, leaving him there to stand in utter shock of what he had just heard and what had been spoken.


	9. No Sensation

Hey guys! here's another new chapter! Thanks to all your kind reviews and i hope to have another chapter out by Tuesday so enjoy!

* * *

Three days later…

Clark's condition still hadn't changed, and that was getting everyone worried. The Kent's had found out that the doctors were considering pronouncing Clark pretty much a vegetable, and it did nothing to help Martha and Jonathan. Both were thinking of how this wasn't supposed to be happening. That they were all supposed to be home – home and happy like other families were instead of sitting by their son who was in a hospital bed dying, practically in a forever loss of consciousness.

Pete was spending the nights with the duo at the hospital, staying far away from his house and his own family incase there was any change in his friend's condition while Lex did the very opposite, burying himself in his work but making sure he called up the Kent's a few times a day to make sure everything was okay.

For Chloe, one day she happened to overhear some of the conversation the couple was having. It was there she found that Clark might not come back at all, and she ran home and told Lana the news to afterwards beg her to keep it a secret. She didn't want the Kent's to know that she had overheard one of their private conversations, and annoyed, Lana reluctantly agreed.

Now, sitting in the hospital room, Lana stroked Clark's hand gently as she looked around at all the machines that were there-wishing that they would just goes away but knowing that wasn't possible. "Please don't leave me Clark; you're all that keeps me together. If you died I don't know what I would do." The raven haired girl whispered to the unconscious teen on the bed, her eyes shining with tears that slid down here cheeks while she laid her head on the bed next to her love's face.

"Please Clark, I love you so much. Come back…please come back…"

* * *

Blackness-- that was all that he could see. Blackness and pain that he wished would all go away. He wanted his mom and dad, he wanted to see Lana, Chloe, Pete, and Lex again, tell them how much they meant to him as friends and how he considered all of them family. He just wanted to go home and leave the panic, worry and agony he felt in the strange world he was in now. 

Another course of pain shot through him as he sat crossed legged on the ground, rocking himself back and forth while closing his eyes tightly and praying that the torture would disappear. God, he just wanted all the pain to go away, that's all he asked. That, and to find a way back to light again, to his home, to his parents, and to his life.

Suddenly, a booming voice was heard, and he looked up at the darkness above him to wonder where it came from. "Kal-El, are you ready to choose?" He knew that right away it was Jor-El.

Clark was still confused and frustrated by all of this though, and he balled his hands into tight fist while choking back the tears in his throat. "I can't choose! Please, just let me out of here, let me see my friends and family again. Then I can choose."

There was silence for a moment as the teen sat still and waited for a reply that soon enough came. "I will let you back Kal-El, but you must remember this will only be for a brief time, and at a great physical cost to you."

Clark darted his eyebrows down and sighed heavily. "What do you mean? What did you do to me?" He asked almost angrily, hearing a respond right away.

"You will find out in time Kal-El, now go forward and see the people you care about. Remember, time is short, and you must decide soon or you will pay dearly."  
Clark was about to reply when he felt his mind haze up and obscurity fill his eyes as fell into unconscious to the place around him.

* * *

Lana's head rested gently against Clark's arm, finally drifting off into a troubled but light sleep when she was jolted awake by movement, and she looked up to see Clark staring at her eyes filled with distress and pain. She could not believe what she as seeing at first. Clark Kent was awake after the doctors said there was basically no hope. She shook her head and looked one more time, expecting it to be a dream but realizing that it truly wasn't. 

"Clark?" He just looked at her in more confusion as if to say 'who are you?' and 'where am I?' Lana got up from the chair she sat in and rushed out of his room and down the hallway to almost crash into Martha as she walked down the lobby with her husband. "Mrs. Kent, you're never going to believe this, i-it's Clark, he's awake."

Back in the hospital room, pain was the only thing Clark felt as he tried to move or sit up in the bed that he was lying in, however, certain limbs either not working or forced to stay still keeping him from doing any movement. The only thing that he was concentrated on was the anguish that was ripping through every inch of his body though. He wanted to take the tube that was breathing air for him out of his mouth but his right hand was to heavy to pick up and his left shoulder hurt like hell when he moved it. Before he could do any more budging too, he heard the sound of a door swing open and an ecstatic cry from a woman enter his ears.

"Thank god." Martha exclaimed, rushing over to the hospital bed along with Lana where her son laid as she sniffed back the tears that were falling down her cheeks and brushed away a strand of hair from the boy's forehead that was covered in gauze. She was cut off from saying anything nevertheless when two other people came running into the room and she turned her head over to find her husband and a doctor sprinting over to them.

"Clark!" Jonathan shouted with a slight smile on his face, not noticing Lana take a step back and walk backwards over to the door so he could stand next to the bed. All he was thinking about was how his son was now awake.

Dr. Bennett walked over to the bed also and checked all of his patient's vitals for anything out of the ordinary, making sure everything were normal before he looked down at the boy and put a small grin on his face. "Well Mr. Kent, it seems that you are full of surprises today." Clark looked at him with questioning eyes though, and the room started to get worried with his bewilderment as the doctor went on even through his uncertainty.

"I guess now would be a good time to fill you in. You were in a serious car accident about four days ago Clark, you came in with serious injuries that you should have died of." Clark stared blankly at him, still not knowing what was going on as he continued. "The reason you can't talk is because we had to hook you up on a respirator. Now, I'm going to take that tube out, okay?"

Clark tried to nod, but it was too painful, so he simply just shut his eyes then opened them. The doctor took that as an okay and started to take the pipeline out, and Clark started coughing harshly when it was out of his throat. After it subsided, he sunk deep onto the bed and closed his eyes. Taking deep breaths, he finally was able to open his sight after he caught his breath as he looked around at the people standing around his bed, no hint of recognition in his eyes.

Dr. Bennett saw this and continued after a moment. "Clark, do you know where you are?" The boy tried to respond but nothing came out, and his eyes widened in panic. He tried again but still, no sound came from his mouth. Dr. Bennett quickly calmed him down by placing his hands on his shoulders gently and started to explain.

"Clark, when you came in you had a massive head injury, it seems one of the side affects was loss of speech. Don't worry, with time that will return." Clark held his hand uninjured hand up in a writing gesture, and understanding immediately Dr. Bennett took out a pen and a notepad for him to write on. With much difficulty, he wrote out the word 'hospital' to answer his question and the doctor nodded at this.

"Very good Clark, now I'm going to ask you some yes or no questions and all I want you to do is blink once for yes, and twice for no, alright?" He said as Clark blinked once, signaling he understood, so he went on.

Dr. Bennett went around to the end of Clark's bed, lifting up the blanket covering his legs, he started to tap on Clark's leg, "Can you feel this Clark?" He asked, having to walk back up to his head to see his eyes as he blinked twice, telling him that he didn't sense a thing he had done. Biting his lower lip, the physician gulped loudly and turned over to the parents, sighing and shaking his head as he heard Martha let out a silent weep and Jonathan swear to himself.

Sighing, the man took another step forward and placed each of his hands on each side of the blue brace the boy was wearing, unbuckling it extremely slowly in precaution to doing any harm to his already fragile spine as he bent down to his knees to be eye-leveled with the teen and looked him in the face.

"Clark, I'm going to feel if your neck is broken at all--I need you to tell me when I do if you feel a sharp pain in your back, all right?" Dr. Bennett said, wrapping his cold hands around the warm neck as immediately he saw Clark close his eyes tightly in tenderness while opening his mouth up as far as he could but nothing coming out. It was obvious that he was trying to cry out in anguish, and the doctor saw this right away, taking his hands off the collar and placing the bracket back on.

"Well, that's a good sign. The response to contact on his collarbone shows that his spine wasn't damaged to the point where it's insensibly." Looking over at Jonathan while saying this, he watched the father swallow saliva down his dry throat and stare blankly at him for him to go. Not wanting to seem like he was being inpatient however not wanting to do what he had to do next, the doctor gulped loudly and ran his fingers through his brown hair forlornly.

"Okay Clark…do you recognize the people around you?" Dr. Bennett asked slowly as Martha, Jonathan, and Lana all held their breath unknowingly while they waited for Clark to answer. It seemed like time had slowed down as everyone waited for Clark to respond. Finally though, after what seemed like hours, he blinked once, then twice. Everyone's hearts sunk at the devastating answer. Clark Kent, the boy everyone knew and loved had not remembered any of them. The parents were the most distressed of them all since their son that they had raised from almost infantry didn't even know who they were.

Looking over at the couple despondently, Dr. Bennett closed his eyes and sucked in his lips, stuffing his hands in his long, white trench coat and walking away from the bed and over to the door sorrowfully.

"I'll leave you alone for a while. We're going to have to do some x-rays and cat-scans soon to make sure everything is going along smoothly though….get me if you need anything." Dr. Bennett advised, slow on his last words as he smiled wearily at the raven-haired girl by the door who had her hand covering her mouth and tears flowing down her face before walking out of the room.

Jonathan didn't know what to do next. There his son laid, awake but still on his last lines and in sheer pain lying down straight on a hospital bed not even knowing who he was. All he could do was inhale deeply and then sigh heavily as he walked up to the right side of the bed and looked down while brushing away strands of hair on the boy's forehead.

"Clark, son, do remember anything?" Jonathan asked. Clark blinked once, and hope fluttered in the father's heart once again at this reply.

"Do you remember any one in this room?" Again, Clark blinked once. "Can you look at the person for me?" Jonathan once more asked, and Clark looked toward at the raven-haired girl standing in the doorway. She noticed and came over by him in surprise and shock, pointing to her self while doing so.

"You remember me?" He blinked as shakily he picked up the pen and wrote down something. After he was done, Lana took it from him and read what was there.

'Lana? Talon. My truck hit going to Talon.' Lana started crying again, nodding at the words Clark had written down. Just then, a surge of pain went through Clark's body and his face twisted in pain. Lana jumped a little bit as this happened but soon calmed down as she started stroking Clark's hair while he fell into unconsciousness. "Hang in there Clark."

* * *

Silence roamed the halls of Smallville medical center as Lex Luthor stood outside one of the ICU rooms, his hand placed gently on the large glass in front of him as he stared at the boy inside the area lying down on a bed flat with his father and mother next to him. 

He couldn't believe this had happened to Clark. From the moment he met the teen he had always thought he was invincible, and yet here he was, fighting for his life as he stood there motionless. And he couldn't help but feel guilty. Sighing and letting his palm slide down the cold glass, he closed his eyes and gulped loudly when suddenly a voice filled his ears.

"You do know that technically this is all your fault, don't you?" Looking over to his right, Lex saw Chloe walking up to him, clinging onto her jacket as her eyes were blood shot red and her cheeks were wet with tears. "What do you mean this is all my fault Chloe?" Lex was confused by Chloe's sudden statement as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know," Chloe said sarcastically. "Maybe how it happened to be _your_ company's truck? Or how you pretend like you never knew it was Clark that was hurt? So tell me Lex, are you satisfied with the results of your little experiment?"

He looked at her puzzled, "Chloe, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't ask for that truck to hit Clark, and I swear to god I never knew he was critically injured."

"I can't believe you just stood there and lied to my face." Chloe spat, anger overwhelming her body while she clutched onto her jacket even tighter. "You make me sick Luthor." With that, she walked into Clark's room, not looking back once at the remorseful Lex.

**To Be Continued…**


	10. News Report

I know i said this would be up sooner, but then school found me in my hiding place and killed me with work. But...here's an update. it's short, but i hope you guys like it. the next update should be soon. In the mean time...Review!

* * *

Silence was the only thing Lana heard as she sat down in the waiting room of the hospital, her knees high up to her chest and her feet resting on the dark blue chair she sat in as she had her arms wrapped around her legs and her cheek resting gently on her knees Tears were still streaming down her face while she listened to the nothingness around her. So much had happened in her life in the past twelve hours that even she was overwhelmed. Clark didn't remember anything. Her love didn't know anything that happened in his life. Yeah, he did know he she was, but only because she was the owner of the place he was going to before he was in a fatal car accident. Now he was hanging onto his life as she sat there, silent, crying to herself.

Feeling the presence of someone suddenly sit down next to her abruptly, she sniffed and closed her eyes while she felt a hand placed on her back, rubbing it gently as the sweet, smooth, kind motherly voice filled her ears. "Everything's going to be okay sweetie." Martha kindly reassured her, seeing her turn her head over to her and wipe away some of her tears while gulping loudly and feeling moister fill up in her eyes as she spoke.

"How do you know that Mrs. Kent? This wasn't even supposed to happen to Clark in the first place. He's always doing nice things for people…he has never done anything wrong. I-I…I just don't understand how this could have happened to him!" Lana's words soon came out as a sob, her face crumbling up in more tears as Martha pulled her into an embrace and stroked her soft, raven hair as she felt tears of her own form in her eyes herself.

"I just keep thinking that if we didn't agree to go over to the Talon this would have never happened, and he wouldn't be hurt." Lana said looking up at Martha. "Maybe if that hadn't happened, he'd be at home up in his loft doing his homework or something." She forced out a laugh that came out as a sob, tears falling down her face all while the mother shook her head at her words.

"Lana, you shouldn't be blaming yourself for what happened. This was an accident and accidents do happen." Martha reminded her, stroking her face as she nodded her face and shrugged a little.

"I know, but I feel like this could've been stopped somehow. Like what if he would've stayed at school for just a little bit longer?"

Martha rubbed Lana's back, "We shouldn't live lives on what ifs Lana. What happened, happened. It was an accident and we can't change that. I know this is hard…it's hard for us all, but…it was just…an accident sweetie." Little did Martha know that this was no ordinary accident.

* * *

"…around 6 pm Wednesday evening. The fatal car accident occurred on Main Street and left one dead, Sarah Nicole Jones, and one wounded severely, Clark Jerome Kent, who is right now checked in Smallville Medical Center for critical injuries such as severe whiplash and traumatic brain damage. What happened the tragic nightfall still remains in the memory of Dalton Roach, the driver of the Luthor Corp vehicle who hit Clark Kent's truck. Dalton,"

The echo of the television filled Jonathan's ears as he sat down next to his son who was lying down in the hospital bed in front of him, his face expressionless as he slumbered deep in unconsciousness while the father's eyes were locked on his sleeping body. The TV in the upper corner of the room continued to fly into his hearing no matter how much he didn't want to hear it however. He wouldn't dare to glance at the screen sometimes at what he would see too. All he did was sit there, thinking sadly about what had happened to his only son while listening to what the news station had to say about the car accident that was all over TV.

"I-I don't know, it was a strange evening Kelly. I was driving down the road doing a load for Lionel Luthor when suddenly, out of nowhere this red car pops up in my view. I swear, I tried to pull to the side or something, but before I knew it, my truck hit it. About less then twenty seconds later a car was driving by, I believe a Mazda it was--yeah, a blue Mazda had to swerve to the side because we were in the middle of the road, and had smashed into the side of the truck that I hit on the way. I called an ambulance right away after that. That's all I know that happened."

Jonathan gulped loudly and leaned his arms on the bed's metal bars while he blew air through his cheeks and looked around him at the machines and monitors that the boy was hooked up too. He didn't understand how this was happening. It was Clark for crying out loud. From the moment they found him, he was invulnerable unless he was around his Kryptonite, but after he was taken away from that, he was better. No, this was something that puzzled him. Either way it didn't matter though. He didn't remember anything and from what Dr. Bennett told them there was an unlikely chance he would ever remember anything again.

It was unbelievable to him. Everything that had happened was unbelievable. At least there was a chance back when Clark couldn't wake up that things would get better. Now, everything was down the drain. He was paralyzed from the waist down, with the chance that he couldn't even move his neck for a lifetime without surgery that could kill him, and to top it all off he did not remember anything and was fighting for his life every second that went by with the TBI he was suffering from. It was too surreal for Jonathan to see. It was too frightening for him to think about it. It was to scary all together for it to even be happening.

"Thank you Dalton. For those just tuning in that was Dalton Roach, the driver of the Luthor Corp truck that collided with a seventeen year old boy's car four days ago. I'm Kelly Lamb and here's Jim with the weather."

Sighing loudly, Jonathan tried to concentrate on the sound of the beeping and buzzing noises from the machines around him, his mind slowly falling into slumber as his hand dropped down on the bed and the sounds of his light snores filled the area. And as he slept, his hand laid on top of Clark's gently while the room remained silent and peaceful.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	11. Dalton Roach

A/N: Hi guys! Here's a new chapter! I'll update sometime next week, if I get the time. While you wait...ReViEw! ; )

* * *

Chloe sat on her bed thinking about everything that had happened. She still could not believe that Clark was awake, but yet, it was sad to know that he hadn't remembered any of them. They all knew he only remembered Lana because she ran the Talon and that was the last place he was headed no matter what anyone thought too. She was still angry at Lex; she couldn't believe he had lied right to her face. Maybe Clark's dad was right, all Luthor's are the same-they all lie and they all and cheat.

FLASHBACK

Earlier that evening…

Chloe knocked on the door of Dalton Roach, the truck driver that hit Clark. She was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another. A face peered out the door, "Dalton Roach?"

The face nodded then said, "Yeah that's me, what do you want?"

"I'm Chloe Sullivan; I'm a friend of the guy you hit." She said that part with as much cheeriness as she could. "I was wondering if I could as you a few questions about what happened a few days ago."

The door opened wider revealing Dalton's body, "Come in." She stepped into the house and followed him to the couch. He sat down after her and leaned forward, "So, what do you want to know?"

"So, what do you want to know?" Clearing her throat and bowing her head to the ground, she folded her arms over to her chest and sucked in her lips as she took a deep breath and sniffed loudly.

"Well I was wondering if you knew who exactly it was you hit."

He laughed and leaned against the wall post next to him, "Of course I know who it was. Luthor Junior paid me big bucks to run into Kent." Chloe was stunned. She couldn't believe that Lex Luthor had hired this person to hit Clark.

"Did he say why he wanted you to hit Clark?"

Dalton nodded, "He said something about wanting to know if all his theories were right and that I was the only one who could test that."

Horrified at what she had just heard, Chloe got up and started walking toward the door, "Thanks for your help."

Dalton smiled and nodded his head, "Glad to be of service."

END FLASHBACK

It angered Chloe to think that this guy could talk about how he had actually hurt someone so freely, so carelessly. It was like he didn't care if he took the life of some innocent person, all he wanted was the money. Chloe got up and grabbed her stuff, heading out of her bedroom, bumping into Lana as she went, "Chloe where are you going?"

"To the hospital, tell my dad I'll be home later."

* * *

Walking down the halls of Smallville Medical Center, Chloe pulled her blonde hair behind her ears as she bit her lower lip and looked side to side for the one man she needed to talk too. Holding in this secret was killing her--she had to tell someone. Gulping loudly and turning a corner, she beamed broadly as she saw Jonathan Kent leaning against the doorframe of her friend's hospital room. As she was about to walk up to him, she noticed that a doctor wearing a white lab coat was next to him. Making sure she was out of view by turning around and leaning her back against the wall, she listened closely to their conversation in melancholy.

"Mr. Kent I'm sorry, I really am. But there's no hope for Clark recovering from these injuries. He's been unstable for almost a week now and the longer he goes without the operation the…-the greater the chance he'll die." Dr. Bennett informed him, his face showing sympathy as the father brought his head up and gulped back the lump that was in his throat. The first thing Chloe noticed when he did was that his eyes were filling up with tears and a strand of water was close to falling out.

"Why can't you do the surgery then?" Jonathan asked, his voice stumbling as he sniffed and looked over at the doctor, who sighed sadly and shook his head.

"It's too risky. In his condition, he won't make it two hours in the OR. I'm sorry Mr. Kent. We'll give him one more day, okay? But if he doesn't improve by then…we're going to pull his plugs." He told him, bowing his head as Jonathan's face crumbled up and a tear fell down his check while he turned back over to the wall in sadness. Gasping, Chloe sucked in her lips and closed her eyes tightly, covering her mouth with her hand as she sprinted down the hallway as fast as she could, trying to forget the words she had just heard.

Chloe ran down the halls with tears streaming down her face. Not even the information she had would help Clark now, he was dying and there was nothing she could do. She was so deep in thought; she didn't see Pete walk out of the bathroom and ran right into him. Pete grabbed her, "Hey Chloe, what's wrong?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "It's nothing Pete, I just need to go."

She tried to move but Pete had a tight grip on her shoulders, "Chloe, seriously, what's wrong?"

"I-It's just that I was going to see Mr. Kent, because I had some information for him when I heard him talking to the doctor. The doctor said that Clark was getting worse and there was no chance of recovering from his injuries."

Pete gasped at what he had heard, "God, I didn't know it was that serious, I mean he woke up, shouldn't he be getting better? And what's the information you had for Mr. Kent?"

"I went over to the driver of the Luthor Corp truck and talked to him. He said a few days before the accident Lex had come up to him and offered him some money to do a little experiment. The experiment was that he had to run into Clark so Lex could finally prove that Clark was different or something."

Pete's anger started to rise at this information he started to walk away mumbling, "When I get my hands on the son of a bitch, he's going to pay for what he did."

Chloe looked up at him in concern. "Pete don't do anything stupid, please?" Pete barely listened as he pulled his arm from her and walked out the doors.

* * *

The sun set over the white, fluffy clouds down in Smallville as Lex stood in his office, his back leaning against a wooden table and a glass of brandy in his hands as he felt the heat from outside that was beaming through his clear windows form a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Inhaling loudly, he threw his head back and dumped the alcohol in his mouth, closing his eyes tightly when he swallowed it before placing the cup down on the table behind him. He knew drinking wasn't the way to forget what was going on with his friend, but it sure of hell helped make him not go crazy with the guilt that he of all people was suffering from.

Suddenly hearing the sound of crashing noises and men shouting, he snapped his head over to the entrance of the room where the door flew open, showing a short, dark-skinned boy coming running up to him and out of the blue throw a punch at his face. Stumbling backwards, Lex held his eye in pain, blurrily trying to see the man. His expression went shocked when he saw it was a familiar young teen.

"Pete? W-What's wrong, what's going on?" He asked, not getting a voice reply out of the boy. Instead, he saw him charge up to him and pushed him into the wall, his head hitting it hard and his eyes closing once again as the boy grabbed his shirt and threw him to the side of the room in anger.

"You sick bastard! What the hell did Clark ever do to you?" Pete exclaimed, his chest heaving heavy breathes as just when he was about to throw another blow at the rich man, he felt two people grab each one of his arms and pull them behind his back again his will even through his struggles. Ignoring Lex stand up straight and shake his head at the guards, telling them not to take the teen away, the darker colored boy clutched his teeth together tightly in rage.

"What are you talking about Pete?" He inquired, rubbing the back of his neck sorely as the boy looked at him with a disgusted look. He could not believe he had just lied to him. Yeah, he knew he could and would, but the fact that he had lied straight to his face and he knew it made him more livid then ever.

"Like you don't know! You did this to Clark, Luthor. You put him in that hospital bed and now because of you he's going to die!" Pete yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to get away from the guards again but having no luck.

"Pete I still have no idea what you're talking about. Why would I want to put my friend into the hospital?"

Pete glared at him, "You have some nerve Luthor. I can't believe you can actually keep a straight face and lie to someone. You truly are like your father."

Lex looked at the guards and motioned for them to let the teen go. Cautiously they did so, still standing right beside him incase he decided to lash out again. Lex looked at the guards once more, "Give Mr. Ross and I some privacy please."

The guards slowly and hesitantly moved toward the doors then disappeared behind them. Making sure the guards were gone, he turned to Pete, "Why would you come to me making an accusation so severe?"

"Because I know you did it!" He spat, "God, I never thought you would go to such lengths to find an answer! Clark trusted you, he thought you were his friend, and then you go and double-cross him? That's low, even for you."

Without another word, Pete turned around and walked out the doors, slamming them as he left. Lex's office was once again quiet; he ran his hand down his face. Pete was right; this was low, now he was paying for it with the guilt that was inside him.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


End file.
